


How much did you hear?!

by Suzilee11



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Beta Derek, College, Confessions made, Human Stiles, M/M, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, Sheriff knows about werewolves, Sophmore Year
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-11-23 14:00:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18152759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suzilee11/pseuds/Suzilee11
Summary: Stiles is having a rare dinner with his father when the Sheriff asks him about the pack, and especially Derek.Derek didn't want to interrupt Stiles' dinner with his father, but he needed some information from him. As he climbed through Stiles' bedroom window he heard something he never expected to hear.





	1. Stiles POV

Stiles was having a rare dinner with his father. With all the supernatural activity that happened in Beacon Hills and college, Stiles didn’t have a lot of spare time that he could spend with his father. Stiles had decided to go to a local community college that was only half an hour away from Beacon Hills so that he could still live with his dad and was close by if there was any sudden supernatural emergency that he needed to be around to help deal with. Despite being so close to home though, he had a crazy class schedule with different classes being held anytime from 8am to 10pm, meaning that he spent most of the week on campus in classes or studying. The sheriff also had a crazy schedule at work, working lots of double shifts. He didn’t have to work quite as hard as he used to when the supernatural problems first began in town, especially with the pack around to take care of those problems before too much damage was caused, but he did still have a lot of work to do. 

It was a Saturday night and the Sheriff finally had a night off and no work the next day, and Stiles didn’t have any pack business or emergencies to deal with, therefore Stiles and the Sheriff finally had a chance to have a meal together and catch up for the first time in months. Stiles was particularly really enjoying the evening cooking dinner with his father whilst they laughed and danced around the kitchen to a random radio station they were listening to. Once everything was ready, they sat down at the table together to eat and catch up.

“So how is work?” Stiles asked his father. 

“It’s busy, but with you and the pack around its not as bad as it could be.” The Sheriff replied. “How’s school?” He then asked his son.

“My timetable is crazy, but classes are great. Just think about this dad, in 2 ½ years I’ll be a deputy and you will be my boss.” Stiles said excitedly. 

“Oh god help Beacon Hills.” The Sheriff said, laughing at the expression that was currently on his sons face. 

“Excuse me?! I will make an excellent deputy.” Stiles said while he was pouting. The Sheriff couldn’t help laughing again. It was always so funny when Stiles reacted this way to his words. 

“I know you will Stiles, I’m just messing with you.” 

“That’s not very funny dad!” Stiles said, continuing to pout. 

“Actually, its hilarious. At least from my point of view.” The Sheriff said. 

“You’re a horrible father.” Stiles stated. 

“Actually, I’m an awesome father.” The Sheriff counted. 

“Whatever.” 

The Sheriff was unable to stop himself from laughing and within a few seconds Stiles had cracked and joined in with him. It was so rare that Stiles even heard his father laugh that he was really happy to see and hear it, and therefore couldn’t find it in his heart to remain upset with him for his comments. Finally, they both calmed down enough from there laughter to continue to eat again. They were silent for a few minutes while they ate before the Sheriff spoke again. 

“So how is the pack doing? I feel like I haven’t seen any of them for ages. Everyone must be very busy.” 

Due to the packs feelings of responsibility towards protecting Beacon Hills, none of them had gone very far for college. Stiles was only half an hour away at his local college, where he attended alongside Jackson and Boyd, Scott, Isaac, Allison and Erica were all at the university of Southern California roughly an hour away from Beacon Hills, and Lydia was at the California Institute of technology, also roughly an hour away. Being able to talk about his friends instantly gave Stiles more animation with his hand gestures, as his hands started to fly around him as he began to talk. 

“They’re great dad! I get to see Jackson and Boyd a lot. Jackson is in most of the same classes as me so we study together all the time and get to catch up with Boyd when we have breaks at the same time, and…” At this moment the Sheriff decided to interrupt Stiles. 

“Stiles, I’m really glad that you get to see some of your friends so often, but I’m a little more curious to know what courses they are all taking and how they are going with them.” 

“Well, Scott and Isaac are loving their course. Deaton lets them help at the clinic when they are in town so that they get some practical experience to go with the theory they are studying. Lydia is top of her classes as predicted by everyone that knows her. Even all the other math nerds can’t keep up with her. Jackson is enjoying law but he is struggling a little bit with a few of his classes, so I’ve been helping him with them. I know, shocking right! But he isn’t so much of a dick anymore. Boyd is doing really well in sports therapy. He keeps trying to practice on the pack whenever anyone does a muscle injury, but most of them heal way to quickly for him. Now he just waits for Allison or I to hurt ourselves so he can practice on us. Erica is also struggling a little bit with all her science classes, Lydia has been helping her out over Skype whenever she can. Erica is still desperate to complete her course as quickly as possible. She wants to be a doctor so she can help other people who have epilepsy, but also wants to research for a cure as well, so she is torn on what to do when she graduates but has decided that she is going to take summer classes to complete her course faster. And Allison loves her Psychology course so much that she is always the last to arrive back in town when we need her because she would rather finish her work, reading or class, depending on what she is doing at the time.” Stiles finally took a proper breath now that he was finished talking. 

“I’m surprised that Allison chose psychology with all of the other skills she has.” The Sheriff said, the look on his face identical to the one he has when trying to figure out a very difficult case at work. 

“So were we when she told us, but her reasoning for wanting to do it makes sense to everyone.” 

“What is her reason?” The Sheriff asked, hoping that it wasn’t a probing question to ask. 

“With everything that the pack deals with trying to protect Beacon Hills she wants to help us mentally deal with it all. And as a lot of us have already lost a lot she wants to help us get through that as well.” Stiles explained. 

“You’re right, that does make complete sense. I’m glad that someone will be able to help you all.” 

“She has already begun to help us.” Stiles said. 

“I’m glad. It sounds to me like everyone is doing well then, and it is also nice to know that Jackson isn’t so much of a dick anymore.” 

Both men stared straight faced at each other for a moment before they both cracked and broke out laughing. After a few minutes of laughter had passed, they both calmed down enough to be able to finish their meals without choking on anything in the meantime. Once they had eaten Stiles turned the radio back on and the two men once again danced around the kitchen whilst they were clearing the table and cleaning the dishes. 

As everything was now clean, Stiles and the Sheriff went into the living room to watch the New York Mets vs Boston Red Sox game. There was very little conversation once the game started, and the only talking that was heard were the yells and cheers at the tv. At the end of the 7th innings, while some ads were playing, the Sheriff realised that there was one member of the pack that Stiles hadn’t mentioned at dinner: Derek. 

“Stiles?” The Sheriff asked to get his son’s attention. 

“Yeah dad.” Stiles said, averting his eyes away from the tv to look at his father.

“When we were talking about the pack earlier you forgot to mention someone.” The Sheriff wasn’t going to say his name first as he wanted to see Stiles’ reaction first. He knew that his son was in love with Derek, it had been obvious over the last few years in the way that Stiles spoke about Derek or the expression he wore when he was around Derek, even when he was angry with older man his eyes were always soft and worried, or protective. 

Stiles kind of froze for a split second before he answered. “No I didn’t, I mentioned everyone. Scott, Isaac, Jackson, Boyd, Erica, Allison and Lydia. That’s the pack.” 

“That’s not everyone Stiles. You’re missing one person.” The Sheriff was being coy now. 

“Ohh you mean Derek?” Stiles asked, his cheeks heating up slightly as he said the name. 

“Yes Stiles, I mean Derek.” The Sheriff replied. 

“I didn’t think there was any point mentioning him.” 

“And why is that?” This slightly confused the Sheriff a little bit. 

“Because you work with him. You see him more often than I do so I would assume that you know how he is doing better than I do.” Stiles sounded a little jealous of that last part, so the Sheriff decided that it was finally time for them to have a proper talk about Derek. Turning of the TV, he moved his body to properly face his son. 

“Dad! The game isn’t finished yet!” Stiles exclaimed, reaching for the remote until his father moved it out of his reached. 

“I recorded the game because I wasn’t sure if a sudden supernatural emergency would occur preventing us from watching it. You can watch the final two innings tomorrow. I want to talk to you about Derek right now.” 

“Why? What is there to talk about?” Stiles said, he clearly didn’t want to be having a conversation about Derek. 

“How about we start with your feelings towards him?” The Sheriff suggested. 

“What feelings?” Stiles practically stammered out. “He’s the pack Alpha and we are friends now. There are no other feelings.” 

“Stiles, don’t bother trying to lie to me. I’m not stupid. I know you have feelings for him.” 

“That’s ridiculous.” Stiles squeaked. His voice literally sounded like a mouse now. 

“Stiles, I have seen the way that you look at him, not to mention the way that you talk about him. Anyone could tell you have feelings for him, and I guarantee that the entire pack must know by now, even Derek himself.” 

This time Stiles just looked defeated. “Is it really that obvious?” He asked his father. 

“I’m afraid so son.” 

“Shit!” Was all that Stiles responded with. 

“How long have you liked him?” The Sheriff asked, curious to know when his son’s hatred towards the man had been replaced with other feelings. 

“I don’t know dad. When I first met him, I hated him. I thought that he was trying to steal my best friend away from me and he didn’t like having me around. And then when we were dealing with the Kanima I had to hold him above water in the school pool for two hours to stop him from drowning and after that we sort of stopped hating each other quite so much and started to build a friendship, regularly saving each other’s lives. Maybe feelings started to develop then, I don’t know. I only know that the moment I knew I loved him, the moment I realised that I even had feelings for him in the first place was in Mexico.” Stiles paused for a moment staring down at his hands. It wasn’t easy for him to remember or talk about what happened in Mexico, but he had never told his father about it before so he might as well tell him now. Before he could start again though, his father asked him about it, so now he had to explain what had happened. 

“What happened in Mexico?” He asked. 

“Do you remember when we had to go to Mexico to save Scott?” He paused for a moment, long enough for his father to nod that he did remember, before he continued to speak. “Well when we got there, we were ambushed by Berserker’s before we had even got out of the van. One of them ripped the back doors open, pulled Derek out and started to attack him. Everyone was so shocked that we couldn’t even move, then the Berserker stabbed Derek through the chest. He was lying there dieing as Braeden managed to scare the Berserker away, and the rest of the group started to go into the temple to try and rescue Scott, but I couldn’t move. I was just standing there staring at him, slowly dying right in front of me. It was then that I realised that I was in love with him. I’ve never told anyone how I feel about him.” 

“Maybe you should tell Derek.” The Sheriff suggested. 

Stiles scoffed. “What would be the point in telling him dad? It would only lead to crushing humiliation and disappointment.” 

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that Stiles.”

“Really? Cause he has never particularly cared about me, even if we are sort of friends now and civil to each other all the time.” 

“Stiles, I work with the man and I really think that you should tell him.” 

“There is no point dad. I’m not going to purposely cause myself pain.” Stiles sighed, moving as though he was about to get up and walk away. He was stopped though when his father grabbed his wrist and made Stiles look at him. 

“Stiles, Derek feels the same way you do.” Stiles just shook his head and looked behind him towards the stairs. “I’m serious Stiles. You’re just about the only thing he ever talks about at work. Constantly wants to know how you are and what you have been doing. Derek is in love with you too Stiles, I can see that he is.” 

“Thanks dad, I’m sure he is. I’m going to go to bed now. Long day. Night dad.” Stiles said. 

“Goodnight Stiles.” The Sheriff said, letting his son’s wrist go. 

Stiles turned away, walked to the stairs and up to his room. ‘Yeah right,’ he thought. There was no way that Derek was into him. His feelings were unrequited and were always going to be. Stiles closed his eyes and sighed as he grabbed his door handle. He would just have to accept that Derek would never want him and get on with his life, however if his dad was right and the pack had noticed his feelings then that was unlikely. Opening his eyes, Stiles pushed his door open and froze in shock at what he saw. A werewolf was half way through his window, clearly trying to leave without getting caught. It was a werewolf that Stiles recognised instantly, making his heart sink and butterflies attack his stomach. 

“Derek?!?!” He shrieked, so high pitched that it was barely audible to his own ears, but the werewolf would definitely have heard it. 

Derek turned around with the look of a deer facing a predator. Complete fear. “Hi Stiles.” He mumbled.


	2. Derek POV

As was normal on a Saturday night where he wasn’t working, Derek was sitting in his favourite chair in the loft reading a book. Stiles was the research expert in the pack but Derek liked to know as much as possible in case he needed to know or act before the rest of the pack could help him. Tonight, the topic was pixies. There had been reports that had reached him about disturbances a few towns away and by the sounds of it, Derek was certain that they were dealing with Pixies and therefore wanted to know as much as possible about them in case they decided to pay Beacon Hills a visit. Unfortunately, the book he was reading, which was one that had once belonged in the Hale family library, had been damaged in the one of the many fights that had occurred in the loft, and therefore was incomplete of all the information that he needed. ‘Ohh well’, Derek thought, he would just have to go over to see Stiles and get some more information from him. After locking his apartment, it would be no use against anything Supernatural, but could at least partially protect him from any normal human crime, he walked down the stairs to the carpark and got into his Camaro before driving over to the Sheriff’s house. 

Derek was expecting to find the house quiet when he got there. He hadn’t checked the rosters before he had left work earlier that day but the Sheriff worked a lot and regularly took the Saturday night shift to allow some of the deputies to have the night off. Therefore, he was quite surprised when he was standing in front of the front door on the porch to hear lots of music and laughter inside. Listening a little more closely, he recognised the heart beats of both Stiles and the Sheriff inside. The Sheriff was obviously not working tonight, and as Derek knew that Stiles and his father very rarely got to spend time together, he decided not to interrupt them and instead walked around to the side of the Stilinski house, quickly checked that no one would see him, and scaled the side of the house and though Stiles’ bedroom window. He could wait until Stiles had finished dinner with his father before asking for his help. Afterall the Pixies were still causing trouble multiple towns away and therefore currently were not a threat. This wasn’t urgent and Derek wasn’t in a hurry. To pass the time while he waited, he picked a book off of Stiles’ shelf, one on the healing powers of plants. It was a book the Stiles regularly referred to when one of the pack had an injury that couldn’t heal on its own. It wouldn’t hurt Derek to have a bit of a better understanding of what plants can be used for healing, maybe he should also make sure he has some in the loft for emergencies? 

Derek mostly tuned out the sound of the talking and laughter down stairs while he read, he didn’t want Stiles to think that he had been listening in on his conversations with his father. When he did check into to listen for a moment to see what they were up to he couldn’t help but laugh at what he heard. Jackson wasn’t as much of a dick anymore? Maybe he had gotten a little nicer and more tolerable since the Kanima issue had been sorted, but he was still a dick. Hearing that they were still eating though he tuned them back out again and went back to reading, already compiling a list of the most useful and commonly needed plants for healing so that he could make sure he had a supply ready. It was a few hours before Derek ended up tuning back into the downstairs conversation. It was a reflex reaction when he heard his name being spoken. The background noise was ad’s, but they were familiar ones. Stiles and the Sheriff must have been watching a baseball game. 

“Ohh you mean Derek?” Stiles asked.

 

“Yes Stiles, I mean Derek.” The Sheriff replied. 

They are talking about me? Why? Derek was slightly confused as to where the conversation was going to go, however he was even more confused as to why Stiles’ heartbeat, which he would recognise from miles away, had spiked instantly at the very first mention of his name. What reason could possibly cause Stiles’ heartbeat to spike at that? Even though he knew that it was rude, and that Stiles might try and kill him if he found out about this, Derek decided to listen in. 

“I didn’t think there was any point mentioning him.” 

“And why is that?”

‘Huh’ Derek thought, ‘I guess he really doesn’t like me. I thought we were at least friends now.’ Derek wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer. It would hurt to much if Stiles said something about hating him. He was certain that they had gotten over that when Stiles had kept him from drowning for two hours. 

“Because you work with him. You see him more often than I do so I would assume that you know how he is doing better than I do.”

Although Stiles’ heartbeat was still raised Derek could tell that he was telling the truth and was relieved that that was the reason. He heard the tv turn off and the sound of someone shuffling around of the couch, it sounded as though the Sheriff had turned his whole body to face Stiles now. 

“Dad! The game isn’t finished yet!” Stiles exclaimed.

“I recorded the game because I wasn’t sure if a sudden supernatural emergency would occur preventing us from watching it. You can watch the final two innings tomorrow. I want to talk to you about Derek right now.” 

“Why? What is there to talk about?” Stiles said.

“How about we start with your feelings towards him?”

“What feelings? He’s the pack Alpha and we are friends now. There are no other feelings.” 

“Stiles, don’t bother trying to lie to me. I’m not stupid. I know you have feelings for him.” 

Surely that wasn’t accurate. There was no way that Stiles could possibly have feelings for me. Derek was certain of that fact. After all Derek had done to him, it was a miracle that they even had a friendship. However, despite his logical reasoning, he still couldn’t help the hope that rose inside his chest. 

“That’s ridiculous.” Stiles squeaked.

Derek’s hope fell away. He knew it couldn’t possibly be true. He didn’t deserve someone as kind and caring as Stiles Stilinski. 

“Stiles, I have seen the way that you look at him, not to mention the way that you talk about him. Anyone could tell you have feelings for him, and I guarantee that the entire pack must know by now, even Derek himself.” 

“Is it really that obvious?”

“I’m afraid so son.” 

“Shit!” 

‘Wait a second, does that mean what I think it means?’ Derek thought. ‘Could Stiles actually like me?’ 

“How long have you liked him?”

“I don’t know dad. When I first met him, I hated him. I thought that he was trying to steal my best friend away from me and he didn’t like having me around. And then when we were dealing with the Kanima I had to hold him above water in the school pool for two hours to stop him from drowning, and after that we sort of stopped hating each other quite so much and started to build a friendship, regularly saving each other’s lives. Maybe feelings started to develop then, I don’t know. I only know that the moment I knew I loved him, the moment I realised that I even had feelings for him in the first place was in Mexico.”

Stiles was actually in love with him. He had just admitted it to his father. Derek was in shock, but wait a minute. Mexico? What could have possibly happened in Mexico to make Stiles realise something like this. 

“What happened in Mexico?”

I guess the Sheriff was thinking the same thing. 

“Do you remember when we had to go to Mexico to save Scott?” He paused for a moment, long enough for his father to nod that he did remember, before he continued to speak. “Well when we got there, we were ambushed by Berserker’s before we had even got out of the van. One of them ripped the back doors open, pulled Derek out and started to attack him. Everyone was so shocked that we couldn’t even move, then the Berserker stabbed Derek through the chest. He was lying there dieing as Braeden managed to scare the Berserker away, and the rest of the group started to go into the temple to try and rescue Scott, but I couldn’t move. I was just standing there staring at him, slowly dieing right in front of me. It was then that I realised that I was in love with him. I’ve never told anyone how I feel about him.” 

‘Ohh right.’ Derek thought, that’s what had happened in Mexico. He had nearly died. That seemed like a good time to realise you love someone, when you think you will never see them again. Suddenly Derek realised that he wasn’t sitting at Stiles’ desk reading a book on healing plants anymore, instead he had slowly and quietly crept across the room and was now standing at the top on the stairs on the landing so that he could hear the conversation more clearly. He didn’t want to miss a single word Stiles had to say. 

“Maybe you should tell Derek.”

Stiles scoffed. “What would be the point in telling him dad? It would only lead to crushing humiliation and disappointment.” 

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that Stiles.”

“Really? Cause he has never particularly cared about me, even if we are sort of friends now and civil to each other all the time.” 

“Stiles, I work with the man and I really think that you should tell him.” 

“There is no point dad. I’m not going to purposely cause myself pain.”

Is that really what Stiles thought would happen? Did he really think that would happen? Derek might not be forward with how he feels, and has been hiding his crush on Stiles for years, but that doesn’t mean that he would allow Stiles to feel humiliated or disappointed. He could be nice enough to be gentle and not hurt Stiles. After all, Stiles definitely deserved better and Derek didn’t want to stop him from finding better. 

“Stiles, Derek feels the same way you do. I’m serious Stiles. You’re just about the only thing he ever talks about at work. Constantly wants to know how you are and what you have been doing. Derek is in love with you too Stiles, I can see that he is.” 

“Thanks dad, I’m sure he is. I’m going to go to bed now. Long day. Night dad

“Goodnight Stiles.”

Derek was hurt to hear the way Stiles said ‘I’m sure he is.’ It was so clear that Stiles didn’t believe his father. But he didn’t have time to deal with those feelings at the moment. Stiles was about to come upstairs and Derek needed to get out now. Stiles obviously didn’t want Derek to know his feelings and therefore he had to leave quickly and just pretend that he had never heard the conversation. Crossing the landing again he closed the door as quickly and quietly as he could before walking over to the window and taking a deep breath. He probably wasn’t going to come around here again for a while so he wanted one last intake of Stile’s smell before he left. Derek was half way out of the window, so caught up in his own thoughts now that he didn’t hear the door opening and didn’t realise that someone else was in the room until he heard an extremely high-pitched shriek. 

“Derek?!?!” 

Derek turned around feeling like a deer about to be attacked by a predator, which was ridiculous as he is the predator. “Hi Stiles.” He mumbled. 

 

 

 

Stiles’ room suddenly seemed extremely small to Derek. All the werewolf’s senses were zeroed in on the guy that he wanted and had thought would never want him, but apparently, he had been wrong. The two men just started at each other for an indeterminate amount of time, even Derek would not have been able to tell someone how long they stayed like that if anyone was to ever ask him. After a while Stiles seemed to suddenly gain control again, well sort of control, only enough to practically squeak out a question that was clearly something that he was hoping to scream. 

“H - how long have you been there?” He was bright red from embarrassment and for a moment Derek considered lying to him and saying that he had just got here and was climbing in Stiles window when he had entered his room. However, there was really no point. Stiles may not be a werewolf, but Derek knew that he could still tell if he was being lied to. Derek had known him long enough now to know that he could tell when every member of the pack was lying, he knew them all so well.

Instead Derek sighed in defeat and looked down at the ground before he answered Stiles in a very quiet voice that was only just audible to the human’s ears. “Long enough.”

Stiles looked like he was stealing himself to ask what he really wanted to know more. “How much did you hear?” 

“Not a lot really.” Derek looked up at Stiles, wanting to convey that he was telling the truth through his eyes. “I was tuning most of it out whilst I was reading a book.” 

“When did you start listening?” 

Derek’s body appeared to physically deflate, if that is even possible when half of his body was still hanging out of Stiles’ bedroom window. “When I heard my name mentioned.” 

Stiles didn’t get a chance to respond to that though as at that moment his dad walked into the room. 

“Hi Derek.” 

“Hello Sir.” Derek responded, slightly glad for the disruption to this awkward conversation. 

“How many times do I need to ask you to call me Noah? Anyway, do you mind not half hanging out the window? The neighbours think someone is trying to break in but got stuck halfway.” The Sheriff laughed after this, finding it quite amusing. Derek thought they should be used to seeing him climbing through Stiles window by now. He had only been doing it for 4 years now. But then again, they probably couldn’t recognise him from his current position. 

“Of course, Noah. Sorry about that.” 

“Don’t worry about it son. It gave me a good laugh. I also have to go into work now. Last minute shift change as Parrish has called in sick. I’ll see you in the morning Stiles. Have a good night Derek.” 

The Sheriff gave a cheery wave and left the room, as Derek fully came back into the room, so he was no longer hanging out the window and scaring the neighbours. Neither Stiles nor Derek spoke again until they heard the police cruiser pull out of the driveway and go down the street. 

“I’m so sorry Stiles. I didn’t mean to listen in, I was only coming over to get some information from you on Pixies cause I think that they are what is plaguing nearby towns and when I got here I heard you and your father having dinner and I didn’t want to interrupt so I just decided to wait and read a book about healing plants. It wasn’t until I heard my name that I started to listen on instinct, but I had no idea what I was about to hear.” Derek spoke so fast to get through all of that he would be surprised if Stiles had caught every word. Come to think of it he realised that he had just spoken the way that Stiles does when he is excited, has a plan, or is just really into a subject that he can’t seem to stop talking about. Feeling more embarrassed than he was when Stiles had caught him half hanging out of the window, Derek just turned around and faced away from Stiles before heading to leave the room back through the window. “I’m sorry Stiles.” 

Just as Derek had gotten one leg out the window, which was enough for him to just have to jump, he felt a hand clamp around his wrist. He is not sure how he had not noticed that it was coming, he hadn’t heard a sound behind him to indicate Stiles moving. Turning around he saw that Stiles had an expression that said he was conflicted. Derek assumed it was about whether he wanted to have anything to do with Derek anymore, or he wanted to stay as far away from him as possible. 

“Stiles, I understand if you don’t want to be friends anymore, I violated your trust and I’m sorry.” He tried to turn back to leave again but this time Stiles actually tugged his arm a little bit. 

“Just come back inside Derek. It’s my turn to talk.” Even though the wolf didn’t need any help getting in or out of a window on his own he decided to humour Stiles and allowed the boy to help him back inside. Once Derek was back in the room things became very awkward again between the two of them. Stiles had moved back across the room and was standing near the door again, whilst Derek was still at the window. It took about 5 minutes before Stiles actually even looked up at Derek, and another 2 after that before he finally spoke. 

“I’m sorry Derek.” as all he said before he lowered his gaze to the floor and refused to meet Derek’s eyes.  
Derek was just staring at Stiles now in complete shock, his eyes bulging wide and his mouth hanging open. He felt like he was a cartoon character on a loony tunes show or something. If Stiles was looking at him to see it, Derek was sure that he would be rolling around laughing at the sight and may even try to take a photo of him. 

“Stiles?” He questioned, hoping the boy would look at him. “Stiles.” He said again, this time with a little more volume making Stiles look directly at him. 

“What?” Stiles replied quietly, almost as if he was accepting some sort of defeat. 

“Why are you sorry?” Derek asked. 

“For what you heard me saying to my dad.” 

This left Derek even more confused than the apology had. “Why is that something to be sorry for?” 

“Because I know you don’t like me like that. Which means that now things will be awkward between us all the time, so you probably don’t want to be friends with me anymore. I’m sorry because I never wanted to screw up our friendship.” 

Derek could see the hurt and sadness on Stiles’ face and he felt a pull in his gut telling him to make that pain stop. Taking one hesitant step forward, he spoke as he slowly got closer to Stiles. “Stiles, you have nothing to worry about.” When Derek reached the half way mark between their two bodies he stopped as Stiles had looked up at his words. 

“I don’t have to worry about what?” He asked sadly, obviously preparing to hear that Derek wanted nothing to do with him anymore. 

Mustering up all the courage he could find, Derek walked right up to Stiles until he was standing directly in front of him, and grabbed his hands, causing Stiles to look down at their hands in confusion, and started to explain. 

“You don’t have to worry about me not wanting to be friends with you anymore because that will never happen Stiles. I do like you. Actually, I love you, and I have done since that night you were prepared to cut off my arm to save my life from the wolfsbane bullet.” Derek had his eyes closed through his entire explanation, so he didn’t see Stiles’ reaction to what he had said. 

“But you still hated me for ages after that. You threatened to kill me all the time. Quite graphically really, the whole ‘I’m gonna rip your throat out with my teeth.’” Stiles said in confusion, eye brows pulled together like he was trying to solve an extremely hard math problem. 

“I only pretended to hate you in an attempt to try and push you away. Everyone around me always seems to get hurt or killed and I didn’t want that to happen to you. So, I acted like an arsehole who hated you in the hope that you would stay out of my life and, especially, out of the supernatural world I live in. Being in that world significantly increased your chances of getting hurt.”   
“So, you never really hated me?” Stiles asked, trying to clear that one part up the most. 

“Well technically I did at first. You did trespass on my family’s property, and then had me arrested for murder as well as constantly accusing me of ruining your best-friends life. Which as you eventually started to believe, his bite had nothing to do with me.” Derek explained, feeling more confident since he knew Stiles liked him to and therefore most likely wasn’t going to run away from him. 

“Why did you never say anything? Why wait this long?” Stiles asked. 

“Because I had no idea if you felt the same way I did, and I was scared that you wouldn’t like me back and would push me away. I wanted to tell you when I thought I was dying, but I knew if I said something you wouldn’t go and help Scott, you would stay with me instead.” Stiles started to open his mouth, but Derek cut him off with more words. “Don’t even try and deny it Stiles. I could see it in your face that night. You were already considering staying with me and leaving the rest to help Scott. If I said anything you would want to know more, you’re naturally a curious person. You wouldn’t have been able to leave my side until you found out everything you wanted to know, so I said nothing. Also, you were underage.”

They were both quiet for a while, thinking over everything that had been said, when suddenly Derek remembered something Stiles had said to his dad. “Stiles, if you realised that you loved me when I was dying in front of you, why didn’t you say anything? It could have been your only chance, but you didn’t take it.” 

“I don’t know. I was scared. Scared you were going to die, scared Scott was going to die, and scared that you would reject me. There was a lot going on that night, and Braeden was beside you and you were dating her at the time. I didn’t know what to do.” 

They both processed all of this for a moment, whilst Stiles was building up the courage to ask two particular questions. 

“Derek Hale? Will you be my boyfriend?” Derek couldn’t help laughing a little. Stiles was bright read from embarrassment and it looked so very cute. 

“Stiles Stilinski, I accept.” He responded, making Stiles laugh out loud. 

“Stay the night?” Stiles asked quietly. 

He was met with a blinding white smile from Derek. Derek couldn’t remember the last time he had smiled so wide. “Absolutely.”

They both silently removed their jackets, shoes and jeans before lying down in Stiles bed, Stiles curling up into Derek chest with Derek’s arms tightly wrapped around him. Just before they drifted off to sleep two last sentences were uttered in the darkness. 

“I love you Derek.” 

“I love you too Stiles.”


End file.
